It Never Should Have Been
by thatgirlisme
Summary: Penny breaches Sheldon's trust and now has to find a way to gain it back...Chapter 5 up, rating may change down the line.  Sorry not great at summaries
1. Chapter 1

She knew it shouldn't have happened. She knew she shouldn't have gone in to his room to re-read those letters from his Meemaw when he wasn't home, using the spare key still in her possession. She couldn't help it though. Over the last year she had begun to see the human side of Sheldon more and more; when he locked himself out of the apartment when the rest of the boys went to Vegas, when she slipped in the shower and he came to her rescue, even his friendship with Amy Farrah Fowler. She couldn't deny the usually very sharp edges of one Sheldon Lee Cooper had started to blur.

As much as she wasn't ready to admit it to herself, Penny was attracted to the lanky theoretical physicist across the hall from her. Nothing made her see the human part of him quite like those letters from his Meemaw. From calling him Moonpie, to questioning him about some of the more technical aspects of his work, to chastising him to find more balance in his life, Penny could see the love the older woman felt for her grandson. It made Penny's heart ache wishing she had someone like that in her own life, and equally being so happy that Sheldon had her in his, because if anyone needed that staunch support, it was him. She had slowly begun to understand why he held himself apart from the rest of the group, especially after the horrendous things that happened to his research while they were in the Arctic. It really spoke to Sheldon's trusting and almost childlike nature that he was still friends with the other men, though Penny was thankful for the depth of his friendship with her since that time and was proud to call him her best friend.

The incident happened at 1:28 on a Tuesday afternoon. Normally Sheldon would be at work for another three hours and two minutes. But on that day, a Code Milky Green had gone into effect and Sheldon was brought home by Raj, who couldn't stand to be locked in the same office as him for the rest of the afternoon. Raj unlocked the door to the apartment and sent Sheldon in ahead of him.

"I'll make you a cup of tea while I keep trying to get in touch with Penny." Raj informed him. "Go get settled in to your room, and if you argue, I'll tell Penny"

"How will you tell her? You still can't speak around her." Sheldon grumped at Raj.

Since the first Code Milky Green after Penny had moved into apartment 4B, whenever Sheldon got sick, she was the one he wanted to take care of him. She understood the importance of "Soft Kitty" and would make sure he was taken care of properly. Sheldon also knew she wouldn't put up with any of his crap, nor would she hesitate to go all "Junior Rodeo" on him, sick or not.

"I'll text it to her or write her a note. Now stop arguing and go get settled in."

Penny was sitting on the edge of his bed, her back angled away from the door. She was so engrossed in the letters that she didn't hear the door open behind her.

"No one's allowed in my room!" shouted Sheldon.

Penny leapt into the air, startled, she had not been expecting anyone to be in the apartment. By now, they all knew that Sheldon being sick could lead to any situation being ten times worse than in normally would have been, so she was terrified for what was coming next.

"You've broken the sacred covenant of friendship and my trust by coming in here when I was at work and going through my things. Leave now. You're banished from this apartment for six months, Penny."

"I'm so sorry, Sheldon," Penny stuttered, as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. "Please don't banish me. It was a mistake, I never should have been here, and it'll never happen again."

"Leave, Penny." Sheldon spoke in a much softer tone.

She turned toward the door, tears gathering in her eyes. She glanced over her shoulder to see Sheldon standing there waiting for her to leave. The tears began streaming down her cheeks as she dashed from the room down the hall and out of the apartment, past a very confused Raj, in the kitchen still working on the prickly doctor's tea.

"Where's my tea, Rajesh?" called a much more sullen sounding Sheldon.


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon lay buried under the blankets in his favorite flannel pajamas. They were a pair Meemaw had sent him for his birthday a few years earlier. His earlier sniffles and coughing had turned into a full-fledged case of the flu. He now had a fever, the chills, and had spent two hours expelling what felt like the entire contents of his stomach. All he wanted now was for someone to come take care of him. Sure, Leonard, Raj, and Howard were are in the living room, watching the Battlestar Gallactica marathon, but he knew none of them really wanted to make sure he was taken care of.

What he truly wanted was his mother to come make him some of her split pea soup with the cut up frankfurters and homemade croutons. Or at the very least, someone to come sing him Soft Kitty. Sadly, he thought about Penny. He had no idea how his routine was going to be affected by her banishment. He wished she wouldn't have brought such drastic measures upon herself. At least then, he'd have his Soft Kitty, and while it wasn't nearly as good as his mother's soup, she'd make him some canned chicken noodle soup with a perfectly made grilled cheese sandwich.

Sheldon was the most stubborn person around. When he made a decision he stuck with it, no matter what and usually nothing could change his mind, therefore the other three knew better than to bring up the lack of Penny's presence when he started whining about something not being done to his specifications. That didn't stop them from electing Leonard to go speak with him about a temporary moratorium on the banishment until his illness was over after Howard was yelled at for burning his grilled cheese sandwich along one of the crusts.

"Sheldon," Leonard called quietly, as he tapped on Sheldon's door. "Can we please talk for a moment?"

"No, I don't wish to speak to you right now." Sheldon replied through the door.

"Sheldon, this is a non-optional convention. I was merely asking to be polite. We need to talk."

"Fine, then don't blame me if you get sick and I have to quarantine you."

Leonard shook his head. Only Sheldon would start talking about quarantining someone while he was sick. "Sheldon, I know you have banished Penny from the apartment. Which you had every right to do after you found her in here, but..."

"We are not speaking about Penny, Leonard. I will not revoke her banishment. It still stands. I can't trust her to stay out of my room or my belongings." Sheldon interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Sheldon, if you would allow me to finish, I was going to say, maybe you should consider allowing her a 48-hour pass to come over to take care of you while you're sick. Anyone can see that you're miserable without her here to take care of you. You could draw up a document for her to sign that states it is only for the term specified and that she only be allowed in the premises while you're present. Besides, you've already confiscated her key so she can't come here without you letting her in."

Sheldon considered what Leonard had just said. He didn't really understand why, but it was true. He was miserable without Penny's presence. And shy of calling his mother to fly in from Texas, he could see of no other alternative to ensuring that someone was there to take care of him for the next few days.

"I'll think about it." Sheldon finally spoke up. "If I decide to grant her the pass, will you take the information over to her?"

"Sure."

Sheldon lay there for another 20 or so minutes contemplating whether it was a good idea to allow Penny to access the apartment given she had already snooped around once. And she had gone in his room! Of all the places, she had been told specifically many times that no one was allowed in his room. He also didn't understand why she'd break so many rules to read those letters from Meemaw. While they were near and dear to his heart because they from Meemaw, it wasn't like they held the secrets to the universe or explained how string theory worked. Finally 45 minutes after Leonard had left the room, Sheldon called him back in.

"Can you please take this contract over to Penny? Please ensure she understands it's temporary and only for the purpose of caring for me while I'm suffering from this illness. Also please ask her to read through it carefully before she signs it. I did make sure that the contents were at a high-school reading level in deference to her so that she could make her decision without needing to seek legal counsel."

Leonard had no idea how he was going to get Penny to agree to this contract, but agreed to Sheldon's request. He figured the sooner that Sheldon's care was taken care of, the sooner he could stop feeling guilty about leaving Sheldon in the apartment while he went to work, so he headed over to Penny's and knocked tenatively on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! It's my first time writing anything like this so I appreciate the feedback. :)**

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><p>She heard the tentative knock on her front door and paused to see if whoever it was would leave or knock again. She really wasn't in a place to deal with anyone. After running out of the boys' apartment yesterday afternoon, she had ended up alone in her apartment with nothing but a her thoughts a bottle of wine for company. Was this how it would be from now on, now that she was banished from apartment 4A?<p>

The knock sounded again, with slightly more force this time, snapping Penny out of the reverie of her thoughts. She was disappointed to hear Leonards's voice call out her name and considered ignoring the door all together. She then realized that her only chance for staying in touch with the happenings and lives of "her boys", specifically Sheldon, was through whatever Leonard was coming to offer. She plastered on a smile and opened the door, hoping those countless acting lessons would pay off and keep Leonard from seeing how distraught she was.

"Penny," Leonard began. "I've come over here on Sheldon's behest."

Shock flickered across Penny's face as her brain began to consider the many reasons that would lead Leonard to her door for Sheldon.

"He wishes to extend you a temporary pass on your banishment in exchange for your assistance while he is ill. He's come down with a rather intense case of influenza and needs someone who can handle him while he's like this. Wolowitz is already trying to gather parts to create a crossbow again."

Penny stood looking at Leonard for a few moments before responding. "So let me get this straight. I come take care of Sheldon for a few days and all I get out of it is a few days of freedom to visit you all in your apartment."

Leonard looked uncomfortable with this outburst of emotion and didn't really know how to respond.

"I'm sorry, Penny. I know this is a lot to ask. He did send some paperwork for you to look over, he may have included more compensation in it, but I didn't read it. He said it was for you, I respect that. You could always use this to try to convince him to take back your banishment."

"I'll think about this Leonard. I need a couple hours to read over his contract and make up my mind. If I accept, I'll be over to your apartment in two hours, otherwise, I'll send you a message letting you know.

Penny took Sheldon's paperwork into her apartment to look over the contract. A lot of it seemed to be typical Sheldon-drabble. But there were a few interesting points. Sheldon was offering a stipend of $500 per day for his care. Penny was excited about this, considering it was about double what she would make in a typical shift at the Cheesecake Factory. He also wished for no mentioning of what happened the previous day that lead to her banishment in the first place. This surprised Penny, she assumed Sheldon would harass her about it the whole time she was there. It also meant though, she couldn't explain herself or apologize to Sheldon for what happened.

Overall, it seemed like a very fair contract to Penny, which given Sheldon's ability to create rather biased contracts was a bit of a surprise. She felt it would be silly to turn it down, especially since it meant getting to spend time with Sheldon. And when he was sick was one of the few times, it was permissible for her to touch him. Even if it was only to rub on the Vicks Vapo-Rub. She gathered the papers and headed toward apartment 4A.


	4. Chapter 4

Penny knocked on the door to apartment 4A and entered without waiting for anyone to answer, as had become her custom. Howard, Raj, and Leonard looked up from the Battlestar Gallactica marathon still playing on the TV in front of them.

"I'll go see if Sheldon is up to coming out here to go over any parts of the contract with you." Leonard informed Penny as he stood and started to move down the hall.

"It's all right," she stopped him. "You don't have to disturb him, I'm going to sign the contract as it is and there's no need to disturb him if he's resting. Now when was the last time he had anything to eat?"

"Um...I think it was about 8 o'clock this morning when he had his morning oatmeal. I don't think he had any of the lunch after Wolowitz burnt the grilled cheese."

"Hey! I told you not to put me in charge of making his lunch. But you didn't listen, and as a result I got a strike and we all had to listetn to him whining all afternoon."

"Wait just a second, you two. You mean to tell me the only thing Sheldon's had all day was breakfast over eight hours ago? How could you let this happen? You all know how important it is to get some food into your system when you're ill to keep your strength up. No wonder he's still feeling so miserable. I'm ashamed of all of you. You all owe Sheldon an apology for your less than adequate care today."

As she continued to give the three men a dressing down over their lack of compassion for Sheldon's welfare and well-being, Penny began to get out a griddle and saucepan to make the grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup she knew that he'd be expecting from her now that she was taking care of him. Once the food was prepared to perfection, Penny placed it on a tray and headed towards Sheldon's room.

She paused at the sight of the closed door. A slight clinch in her stomach at the thought of seeing him again and the fact that this was only a temporary allowance. She tapped lightly on his door.

"Sheldon, it's Penny. I've brought you some soup and a grilled cheese. I'm gonna open the door and bring it in to you."

There was no answer. She opened the door quietly and peered in to see Sheldon sleeping fitfully. Normally he lay so still and barely disturbed the covers, she knew he was truly ill.

"Sheldon," Penny spoke again, this time a little louder. He turned slightly, but still didn't open his eyes. She set down the tray with his food. Hesitant to wake him, but knowing that he needed to gain his energy back, she went with her last resort. She reached down to brush her hand over his forehead. She was surprised at how warm he felt.

"Sheldon," she spoke, one more time.

"Danger! Danger!" Sheldon shot up in bed with a groan as he realized what was going on. "What are you doing here, Penny?"

"I brought you dinner Sheldon. Leonard said you hadn't really had anything to eat since breakfast. We both know how important it is to get some food into your system when you're sick. You have to have the energy to get well."

"But you're banished from the apartment."

"I brought back the contract you sent over. It's signed. That was a very generous stipulation, though I would have cared for you without the monetary compensation. That's what true friends do."

"Nevertheless, you're going to be here taking care of me instead of at work. It only seemed fair to provide you with something to make up for your lost wages. And we both know it's no problem for me to pay you."

"Thank you, Sheldon. Now come on, eat some dinner. I made you chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Thank you, Penny. But I'll go eat at the table, this is my room, and I don't eat food in my room."

"All right Sheldon," Penny decided now really wasn't the time to argue with him over something so petty, the more important thing was to get him some nourishment.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry...Thank you all for sticking around and all the reviews, alerts, and favorites. All I can say is an awful case of writer's block stopped me up, and even I'm not quite sure where this chapter is headed. Though after finishing it, I know where the next one's going. (Does that even make sense?) I apologize if this chapter isn't up to snuff. I wanted to get it out to y'all, after making you wait so long, and at times it feels a little ramble-y on (similar to this author's note). I hope you enjoy. Please R/R. **

After a restless night, Sheldon woke in a fit of coughing. He sent Penny a text to come sing "Soft Kitty" and rub some more Vicks on. As he waited for her to arrive from his summons his mind began to wander as he thought about all the time he and Penny spent together. As much as he enjoyed his work and the time he spent with Leonard, Howard, and Raj, nothing compared to Saturday night Laundry Nights.

Penny seemed to accept him and his quirks without serious complaints or questions about why things had to be a certain way. She knew he had his reasons for doing things the way he did. It was so odd for anyone to do that for him. Even his own family didn't really accept his quirks quite the way she did, except for Meemaw. They all loved him, but they didn't understand him and constantly tried to change him and the way he interacted. He didn't understand what he was feeling for Penny, but he knew that six months of banishment were going to upset his schedule horribly and he had no idea how he would go that long without her sitting next to him on the couch.

Leonard had let Penny into the apartment on his way to work, she'd received a text from Sheldon that he needed her. She didn't bother to take any extra time to get dressed, so she was still in pajama bottoms, a tank top, and robe. She tapped lightly on Sheldon's door and pushed it gently open. He was propped up in bed, looking lost in thought.

"Sheldon," she spoke quietly, not wanting to startle him from whatever he was working on. "You needed something?"

He looked up, with a jolt of recognition, "Penny, I wasn't able to obtain satisfactory REM sleep due to the coughing and I can't breathe through my nostrils. Will you sing me Soft Kitty"

"Aw, Sweetie. Of course, I'll sing you Soft Kitty. How about first though, you go take a hot shower and put on some clean jammies? The heat from the shower'll help you breathe and you'll feel better from getting clean. While you do that, I'll make you some tea and breakfast."

"There's no scientific proof that 'getting clean' will make me feel better, but nonetheless a shower is a good idea. Will you make scrambled eggs and Cylon toast? And don't forget to heat the tea to 183 degrees."

"Of course, sweetie."

Penny turned to leave the room, pulling his door shut behind her. For all her barging in and not respecting personal boundaries sometimes, she really did understand that Sheldon needed his privacy and routines at times to make everything else make sense, especially when he was ill. He gathered his Thursday pajamas and a thick pair of athletic socks, heading to the bathroom to shower and deal with his morning routine.

Penny was shuffling around the kitchen, still not fully awake. It was, after all, only 9:15 in the morning. She found the tea kettle and put it on with the filtered water. After the first time making tea for Sheldon, she'd learnt that it was unacceptable to use water from the tap for his tea. She found the tin of looseleaf Chamomile tea in the pantry and also got out the tea strainer and Sheldon's favorite mug. She knew she had approximately twenty minutes before Sheldon appeared in the kitchen for his food and that if she made it too soon, it would be cold before he graced her with his presence. She pulled out the Cylon toaster, the bread, eggs, and butter as well, she was prepared to cook everything in about 8 minutes so it'd be the appropriate temperature.

Just as she finished plating everything up, Sheldon walked down the hall, wrapped in his comforter. His hair was tousled and damp from the shower. When he was sick was the only time Sheldon didn't care about being disheveled. Seeing him in that comforter reminded Penny of the Valentine's Day they spent on the couch watching so many movies and so much TV when they both had wanted to be in Switzerland with Leonard at the Large Hadron Collider.

She brought Sheldon's plate over to the coffee table and set it down in front of his spot as he got settled in, then plopped down next to him in her spot. Given everything that had happened the past few days, she knew better than to push her preferences in entertainment on Sheldon, so she asked, "What would you like to watch today?"

"I think the original Star Trek series would be acceptable. I have yet to watch the blu-ray copy I received last week of the first three seasons."

Penny didn't mind Star Trek as much as some of the other shows the boys chose to watch, though it was not her favorite. She loaded the first disc into the player, and as the disc loaded and the automatic previews began, she retrieved the Vicks, got Sheldon to lift his shirt so she could apply it in the appropriate counterclockwise fashion, and sang a quick verse of Soft Kitty. They were about 10 minutes into the third episode when she heard Sheldon's breathing finally settle into the rhythmic wheezing of being asleep. His head had lolled to one side and Penny thought he looked so uncomfortable. She hesitated to disturb him, knowing how much trouble he'd had sleeping, but knew that if he stayed in this position he was going to very sore when he woke up.

She thought about it for another 10 minutes before coming to a decision of what to do. She slid away from Sheldon a little bit and grabbed one of the throw pillows from the end of the couch. Placing it in her lap, she grabbed the comforter wrapped around Sheldon and pulled him over so he was resting against the pillow and still propped up enough to keep the nasal congestion at bay. At least this way she could honestly say she didn't touch him to get him into this position.


End file.
